Santa’s Sweatshop: Made in D.C. With Bad Trade Policy

“The toy import safety crisis did not happen over night, and it did not come out of nowhere. But Congress - and a future president - can turn the situation around by renegotiating decades of bad trade policy so that it serves the public interest and protects our kids.” - Lori Wallach, Director of Global Trade Watch

Although China and inadequate U.S. safety systems are often blamed, U.S. toy corporations’ decisions to shift production to countries without adequate safety systems - and trade policies companies pushed through Congress that limit import safety standards and inspection - are the root causes of the imported toy safety crisis, according to a report released today by Public Citizen. Improving toy safety will require changes to trade policy as well as U.S. product safety policies, the report concludes.

The new report also provides information for concerned consumers about what they can do to protect themselves from dangerous imports.